The Play
by Guenwhyvar
Summary: I had this idea for a kinda Liley story the other day and I hope you like it. I've rated this story M just in case. Chapter 8 is now up. If you like it and want me to continue let me know by clicking on the review button.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, Hannah Montana and all the characters are owned by Disney**__**  
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**__**A/N: please review if you want me to continue the story.  
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Miley was sitting on the porch swing crying softly when she heard footsteps approaching. When she looked up she saw Lilly standing there with a suitcase in one hand and an apprehensive look on her face. Miley smiled as she rushed over to embrace her. "I thought I was never going to see you again."

Lilly dropped the suitcase and hugged her back. "So did I but not being with you hurt so much that I decided I'm gonna be with you no matter what my parents say. I love you and I'm never going to let anyone or anything keep us apart ever again. "

Miley looked deeply into Lilly's brown eyes "I love you too." Then she kissed her passionately. After what seemed like a long time Miley broke off the kiss then asked "Whats with the suitcase?"

"I'm not going back home. I've got enough money for a couple bus ticket to Seattle where my Aunt Lizzie lives. I'm sure she'll let us stay until we can work things out. I'm not going to let them keep me away from you ever again." Lilly pulled a small jewelry box out of her pocket "I know I don't have much to offer you now, but will you marry me?"

"Yes, oh God yes," Miley replied. "But I'm not going to runaway, cause that isn't the answer. We have to make it clear to our folks that we love each other and nothing they can do will change that. There is no way in hell they're gonna keep from seeing my future wife." Then she kissed Lilly even more passionately than before.

As soon as the curtains closed and they heard the audience applauding they broke apart and said "We did it," at the same time.

"Yes you did," they heard the director say as he approached them. "Now get out there and take a bow."


	2. The Volunteers

_**Almost Two months earlier**_

Miley sat down in a huff at the table where Lilly and Oliver were busy kissing instead of eating their lunches. Normally ever since she had started dating Jake Ryan again she didn't mind when they did that but today was different. She picked at her food for a minute before saying "Hey guys, cool it on the spit swapping, I'm trying to eat here."

They continued kissing for a couple more seconds before breaking apart. "Sounds like somebody's date last night didn't go so well or is it just that time of the month again." Oliver commented drawing some hard looks from both Miley and Lilly. He shrugged his shoulders then proceeded with digging into the chili-mac on his plate.

"Oh the date went just fine, actually it was more than just fine." Miley said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "It went so damn well that I got home two hours late."

"What happened?" Lilly asked.

" The date started off OK but later when we were going to a secluded spot Jake knew about where we could be alone, the dang car got stuck. When Jake tried to call for a tow truck we found out that our cell phones wouldn't work there, so we hiked almost a mile to a spot where they got a signal. While Jake was calling for some help I called home so I could tell my dad that I'd be late but the phone was busy. Then I tried called his cell phone but all I got was his voice mail. When we finished our calls Jake told me that it might be a while before the tow truck would get to us. So we walked all the way back to the car then started making out."

"It doesn't sound like it was all bad, you did after all get some time alone together." Lilly couldn't help winking as she said the last part.

"True but that's not the worst part. It was after 1am when I finally got home. So I decided to be careful not to wake my dad up by not turning on any lights and going as quietly as I could to my room. When I got halfway across the living room my dad turned on the lights and asked me where the hell I'd been. It startled me so much that I damn near jumped out of my skin and dropped my purse and shoes in the process. When the purse hit the floor it popped open and some stuff fell out."

Oliver asked "What stuff?"

"Did any of the umm.." Lilly's darted back and forth between looking at Miley and Oliver before she finished by saying, "You know what fall out?"

"Oh yeah, every last one of those suckers fell out." Miley grimaced as she spoke. "My dad's eyes dang near popped out of his head when he saw those condoms fall out on the floor."

Oliver looked completely surprised as he said "Why would you be carrying condoms in your purse Miley?"

"Do ya really think that Jake Ryan would even think about bringing his own condoms? " Miley didn't give him a chance to respond to that. "Anyhow as you can imagine he was even more PO'd than he was before. To make a long story he chewed me out last night and this morning. I'm grounded for 2 months, no car and I'm not supposed to see Jake ever again. Now I can't go anywhere except for school, Hannah business and charity work."

Oliver said "Man that's rough."

"Whoa, school will almost be out by then." Lilly commented. "I get the school and Hannah exceptions but what's with the charity bit?"

"Well Hannah gets asked to do a lot of charity stuff which most of it, except for one times appearances or donations, gets turned down, but dad always says that just because Hannah won't do a lot of it doesn't mean that I can't." Miley pause for a few seconds to think about that. "I guess that since I, I mean as Miley, never does the charity work that gets turned down, he figures that I won't go for it but the option will make the punishment seem even worse. Well the sneaky hillbilly is gonna get a surprise."

Oliver Rolled his eyes and said "Do I even want to hear this?"

Lilly poked him in the ribs then said "What are we gonna do?"

"Lilly do remember how, in our last period civics class, Mrs. Vargas has been encouraging us to get involved in community service or charity work since the beginning of the semester?" Lilly nodded her head yes. "Well a couple weeks ago some group that is putting on a play called "Julie" at the civic center. It supposed be a modern day romance inspired by Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' to raise money for Hate Crime Victims Relief Fund or something like that. They had sent Hannah's manager the script hoping to get her to star in the play. Of course dad turned it down but we still have the script and it is a charity event. My idea is to go sign up for the play after class or better yet if we hurry up we can sign up and get back here before lunch is over. What do you say guys?"

Lilly thought a moment then said"Didn't Mrs. Vargas say that we could get some extra credit for doing stuff like that?"

"Yep, she sure did." Miley replied with a hopeful look on her face.

"OK, count me in." Lilly got up and pick up her tray then said "Well what are we waiting for?"

Miley wasted no time in getting ready to go but Oliver just sat there and said "Count me out of this." Then in reply to the girls stares he added "Come on, don't you guys remember the last play I was in and besides I'm not in that class so I wouldn't be getting any extra credit for it."

Lilly thought about what he said and remembered that the last time Oliver was in a play it had been an unmitigated disaster. "OK. I guess it would be better if weren't in the play Oliver but you better come watch me and Miley in the play." Then Lily gave him a quick kiss before going.

Since the civic center was close to their school it only took the girls a few minutes to get there. They headed to the civic centers auditorium where they figured the sign ups would be. When they got there they found that the director of the play was there sitting at a small table that had been set up in front of the stage. Miley smiled when she recognized him as they approached the table. He had been an assistant director on the Indiana Joanie movie. Although his name was Terry James he preferred being called Mr. Terry. Before moving from New York city to California he had been in theater, doing everything from acting to producing. He also had experience with makeup and costumes. While working on the movie he had often helped Miley with the wigs she had worn while filming, so he knew that Miley was Hannah.

Since there was no one else around Miley greeted him enthusiastically "Hi Mr. Terry, it's nice to see you again." By doing this she let him know that Lilly knew her secret. "This is my best friend Lilly Truscott and were here to sign up for the play."

He greeted her with a big hug as he said "It's so wonderful to see you again Miley. I didn't expect to see you here when Ms. Carlisle called and said Hannah wasn't going to do the show." Lilly couldn't miss help but notice his very flamboyant and effeminate mannerisms.

"I'm doing this as myself not Hannah so where do we sign up and when are auditions?" As she was talking Mr. Terry handed each of the girls a piece of paper. Miley had barely glanced at the paper before asking "What is this for?"

"Those are permission slips. I have to get one from the parents of anyone in the play who is under the age of 18. So don't forget to have your parents sign them. And don't worry Miley, you won't need to audition, I'll give you the same part we offered Hannah. If you still have the script you can work with your friend." As he spoke Mr Terry took loose leaf binder out of box next to the table and handed it to Lilly. "Since the part didn't get filled during the first round of auditions give her a chance at the other leading female role during the second round of auditions, which is one week from this coming Saturday. Just practice the lines that I have marked in this copy of the script. How does that sound?"

"That's great, thanks Mr. Terry. I'd love to stay and chat but we're on our lunch break and we have to get back to school before we're late for class."

Later that afternoon when school let out Miley saw Robbie Ray waiting for her by the door nearest the student parking lot. At first she more than a little embarrassed by the way he whistled and called her name when he saw her. So she quickly hurried over to where he was before he could embarrass her any more. Once they were in the car and on the way home she couldn't wait any longer tell her dad that not only had she signed up for the charity play but she also got the lead role.

"Dad do you remember how you say that just because Hannah Montana turns down a lot of requests to do charity doesn't mean that Miley Ray Stewart can't do some of it."

"Yes I do, just as long as it doesn't interfere with you school work or Hannah business." Robbie Ray already had a pretty good idea where Miley was headed with that and why.

"You remember that script for the benefit that Hannah got a couple weeks ago. Well during lunchtime me and Lilly went over to the civic center and signed up for it. And guess what?" Miley didn't wait for him to reply. Instead she paused only long enough to take a deep breath before continuing. "Mr. Terry's the director and he gave me the lead role and is gonna give Lilly a chance to play one of the other leading roles. We just have to practice the lines in the copy of the script he gave Lilly. All I need is for you to sign this permission slip." Miley held out the permission slip for him to take.

By then they had pulled into their driveway, so Robbie Ray took the paper then got out of the car before replying. "That's all fine and dandy bud, but you know that you've been grounded. So how do you suppose you're gonna be able to practice with Lilly and go to rehearsals?" He already knew full well what Miley had in mind but he wanted to hear her say it anyway.

"You said that I couldn't go anywhere except for school, Hannah business and charity work. Well this play is charity work isn't it."

He unlocked the door and went inside as he said "OK I did say that." He went straight to the kitchen as he read the paper. He put it down on the table then went to the fridge to get out a cold soda. "Are sure you want to do this?

"Yes daddy I'm sure I want to do it."

"I'm not trying to talk you out of anything but I just want to make that you want to do the play. You have read the script and you want do the play and it's not because you're trying to get out of being grounded."

"Yes I read it and I really want to do it." Miley said with the most sincere look on here face she could make. "Just sign the slip, please."

"OK bud I'll sign it but only if you promise to see this thing through to the end."

"I promise dad." Miley couldn't help smiling as he signed the permission slip.


	3. Surprised

All the rest of that week Miley had been busy so the first chance they had to practice for Lilly's audition was that Saturday afternoon. That morning Miley had gone, as Hannah of course, to see her costume designer to go over costume ideas for Hannah's upcoming summer tour. Meanwhile Lilly had gone shopping without Oliver. While the girls had been doing that Oliver had gone over the play since they were going to help by reading the lines by the male characters.

Oliver put down the copy of the script he had just finished reading"Oh boy, this is something else. Do ya think they've read all of the script Jackson?"

"I don't know about Miley but I bet that Lilly hasn't read it all the way through yet." Jackson grinned a bit then added "The real question is will they go through with it once they find out?"

"I don't know about Lilly, but Miley's done some things that are a lot crazier than this."

"Yeah you got a point there Oliver, but I'm not sure that she'd kiss another girl in private let alone on stage in front of an audience."

"I tell you what boys I'll take that bet." Robbie Ray said loudly startling both of them. "Don't worry boys, Miley went upstairs to change and call Lilly. So she didn't hear you. I bet that neither one of those girls have read that script yet. One thing for sure though that come hell or high water Miley's gonna go through with it and you can bet the family farm that she's gonna do her damnedest to get Lilly to do it as well."

Both of the boys dumb look on their faces as they thought about that. Just then Miley walked trough the door and said "I heard that daddy and I'll have you know that both me and Lilly have read the play."

"Oh you have and I suppose you don't have any problems with it, even the love scenes." Robbie Ray had a tough time keeping a straight face as he spoke.

Miley replied defiantly "I have no problems with it what so ever. In fact I'm really looking forward to doing those love scenes." She stuck her tongue out at them then hurried back inside to change.

"Any how we all know that the only reason Miley signed on to do the play was to get around being grounded. Then when I asked her if she was just doing it to get around being grounded she said that she read it and really wanted to do the play. Of course you guys know how she always gets Lilly involved in her schemes."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean Lilly won't quit when she finds out," Jackson pointed out.

"Son, when I talked to the director last night he told me that so far only two other girls have signed up to audition for the same part as Lilly is. They are Joanie Palumbo and Ashley Dewitt. Now do you think Miley's gonna let Lilly quit when she finds that out?"

"So what are we gonna do Mr. Stewart?"

"There ain't much we can do Oliver."

Jackson had a big grin on his face as he said "Why do anything, I say lets just sit back and enjoy the train wreck."

"Now that, is a good idea son."

A couple hours later Miley and Lilly just finished practicing their lines in the first two scenes of the first act of the play with Jackson and Oliver. "So how did we do daddy?"

"You're doing great but don't ya think you should just focus on the scenes that Lilly needs to do for her audition?"

Miley smiled at him confidently as she said, "Why, we got this gig in the bag already."

"Correction bud, you've got the gig in the bag not Lilly" her dad said solemnly.

Lilly's eyes opened wide when she heard that. "Wait a minute Miley told me that I was sure to get the part and that the audition was just a formality."

"I'm sure when she said that Lilly, she thought that she could sweet talk Mr. Terry into giving you the part." Robbie Ray paused for a couple seconds before continuing, "But I called him last night and made sure that wouldn't happen among other things. He agreed to not treat Miley any different from any of the other people, or do her any favors like giving people roles in the play just because they're her friends. He also told me that as of yesterday there were two other girls auditioning for the same part as Lilly."

Her shocked surprise was plain for all to see on Miley's face as she said "Daddy say what?"

"Mr. Terry agreed to no give you any special treatment or favors when I asked him not to."

Miley was so surprised that all she could do was to stare at him all dumb faced as she said "Huh."

"You heard me Bud. You've got your part locked in, but Lilly here is going to have to earn hers." Robbie Ray could barely keep a straight face while watching the girls response to all this. "Now might be a good time you to start taking your practicing a little more seriously and focus on what you need to learn for Lilly's audition next Saturday. Oh, by the way, you might want to use some of the techniques for learning not only the lines but the scenes as a whole that you learned when filming that movie. You know the one you hated."

"But daddy that was so boring." Miley complained with a hint of a whine in her voice.

"Yeah but it worked didn't." Robbie Ray couldn't help smiling as he said that. "Do you remember who it was that insisted that the cast do that each morning before shooting the scenes."

Miley knew he was right about that. "Yeah it was Mr. Terry who made us do that and I have to admit that it did work."

"What are you guys talking about?" Lilly asked impatiently.

Miley sighed then said "Each morning before shooting began Mr. Terry had the cast members read through the scenes out loud."

"You mean just read your lines."

"No not just our lines but all the actions and directors notes for the scenes as well. It was really stupid and boring but it did give us a better feel of how the scene was supposed to go."

Lilly looked a little skeptical as she said "Oh, I see. At least I think I do."

"Come let's get something to drink and get started on reading those scenes." As she spoke Miley started heading for the kitchen.

An hour later both Miley and Lilly were frustrated by the fact that both Oliver and Jackson kept laughing about their interpretation of the second scene required for the audition. It was the sixth and

final scene in act 1 of the play where Rachel, Lilly's character, was helping Julie, Miley's character fend off the unwanted advances of a boy.

"Ollie-pop," Lilly said in a frustrated and slightly angry tone, "what do you mean by we'll find out whats so funny about how we're doing this scene?"

Instead of receiving and answer both Jackson and Oliver started laughing even harder. Miley yelled to her dad who was watching TV inside. "Daddy can you tell us what's so funny?"

He yelled back a second later,"What did you say Bud? I can't hardly hear you over those laughing fools out there."

Miley came in from the deck and said "I said do you know why those two bozo's are laughing about?"

"What scene are you working on?"

"Act one scene six. They seem to find our interpretation of it funny and when we ask why they keep saying we'll find out."

"Ah tell you what Miley, it might make more sense if you skip to the third scene for the audition which is Act two scene three."

"OK daddy we'll try that."

Robbie Ray picked the remote and turned off the TV then said "Why don't you guys come inside while you do that."

A couple minutes later everyone was quieted down and seated in the living room when Miley began reading.

"Julie and Rachel are sitting on the bed in Julie's bedroom. Julie notices that Rachel seems very nervous as she looks her in the eyes and says 'OK Rachel what's so important that it can't wait?'"

Lilly read next "Rachel nervously wrings her hands as she speaks 'I don't really know how to tell you and I hope you don't take it the wrong way or anything.' Rachel takes a deep breath then leans in and kisses Julie on the lips. Then before Julie has a chance to react Rachel breaks off the kiss the says "I love you Julie.'"

"Whoa back the truck up," Miley interrupted loudly. As she looked closer at the script she continued saying "Rachel does what?"

Both girls quietly read and re-reads the scene in silence. They look at each other then Miley says "Oh my gosh they're gay. You knew this and you didn't tell."

"Well you did tell me several times that you read the script. Both of you said that you had already read the script before you signed up to do the play."

"Come on daddy since when have I ever looked before leaping into things? You aren't gonna hold me to this to this are you?"

"Well normally I wouldn't but you did make a promise to not only me but to Mr. Terry also and I'm gonna hold you to it."

"Aw come on daddy."

"A promise is a promise Miley and you're gonna keep this one."

Lilly suddenly said "Well Miley just dragged me into this just like she does with all her other schemes. I didn't make any promises about doing it." She paused then smiled a bit before adding. "Mr. Stewart did Mr. Terry tell you who else would be auditioning for the part?"

Robbie Ray smiled as he said "Yes he did."

"Well are gonna tell us?" Miley said impatiently.

"He said that the two other girls auditioning for the part are Joanie Palumbo and Ashley Dewitt."

Miley's expression went from anxious to stunned surprise to horrified in a matter of seconds "Lilly you gotta do this and you have to get the part. I'd rather kiss you on stage than either of them."

As Lilly thought about it Miley looked at her with her patented puppy dog look as she said "Please do this for me. Pleeeease."

After a few more seconds Lilly said "OK, I'll do it."

Miley hugged Lilly then said "We gotta really get this down so you get the part."

Just then Oliver spoke up "You know Miley you're still gonna have to kiss Joanie and Ashley at the auditions."

When she heard that Miley's eyes opened almost impossibly wide just before she fainted.


	4. The Doubts

When Miley opened her eyes she saw everyone looking at her with concerned looks on their faces. For just a few moments she couldn't recall what had happened or why she was lying on the floor. As her mind started to clear she recalled something that had be part of a twisted nightmare since it involved her having to kiss Joanie Palumbo and Ashley Dewitt as if they were her lovers. The next thing that she became aware of was the sound of her dad's voice asking if she was OK. It wasn't until a couple seconds later that she was thinking clearly enough to realize that she should answer his question.

She still felt a bit light headed but she manage to say "I'm OK, I think." She started to get up but as soon as she moved both her dad and Lilly helped her up to the couch. Once seated on the couch Miley said "What happened? I had a horrible nightmare where someone said I had to kiss Joanie and Ashley." Even as she spoke her memory came flooding back and the realization that it was probably not any kind of dream at all.

"Um," Oliver started hesitantly. "That wasn't a dream Miley. Joanie and Ashley are auditioning for the same part in the play that Lilly is and you're gonna have to kiss them both during the auditions next week."

Miley let out a little groan before looking at Robby Ray and said "Do I have to daddy?"

"Now bud you did promise me that you'd go through with the play, all the way through until the very end." Miley knew by the tone of his voice that he wasn't let her get out of keeping her promise.

A few hours later, after Lilly and Oliver had left, Miley was up in her room when she finished carefully reading the play all the way through. Now she knew why Jackson and Oliver had been laughing about their interpretation of the scenes in the first act, which was just about all that they had actually read before then. Now that she had actually read the whole thing she still wanted to do the play but for different reasons now. She put the script down on the bed next to her. For the next few minutes she wondered why her dad had turned it down for Hannah. While she thought about that she drank the last of the big mug of Loco Hot Cocoa her dad had brought her while she had been reading.

After she finished thinking about that Miley got up off the bed. While getting up she picked up the mug along with the plate that the piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie had been on when she came up to read in her room. While her room was usually not as clean as her dad liked her to keep it Miley never left dirty dishes in it any longer than necessary unlike Jackson usually did. That was one thing she was always quick to point out whenever her dad complained about her room being messy. When she went downstairs into the kitchen and deposited the dishes in the sink Miley noticed that someone had polished off the the rest of the pie while she'd been reading. When she went into the living room she noticed that her dad was asleep in front of the TV while holding a plate that still had a big bite of pie left on it.

She quietly walked over to the couch then sat on it as gently as she could next to him. Then she reached and started to lift the remainder of the pie off the plate when Robbie Ray grabbed her wrist in a vice like grip. Miley winced in pain as she cried out "Ow, ow, don't rip my arm off you dumb hillbilly."

"Sorry Miley, but you know better than to touch my pie while I'm slee... watching TV."

Miley smiled and put on her best innocent little girl look as she said "I know, but when it's strawberry rhubarb you can't blame a girl for trying can ya? " As soon as her dad let go of her arm she quickly popped the last bit of pie into her mouth.

As she did that Robbie Ray asked "Did you finish reading the script yet?"

Miley nodded her head yes as she slowly chewed the pie savoring the the taste of the last bit of pie. Once she finished she said "I sure did and I was wondering why you turned it down for Hannah. You obviously read it and you must have known that I'd like it and want to do it."

"Yeah I knew you would but, your contract with the record company has a clause in it the forbids Hannah Montana from doing any potentially dangerous, controversial or scandalous PR stunts, photo shoots, movies, TV shows and charity work. That includes this play but as Miley Stewart you can do the play without violating the contract."

"Why did they put in that Hannah's contract?"

"Bud, they didn't put that clause in, I did. You see when I had my first contract in the music business those cold heartless executives that ran the record company had me doing all kinds of crazy stuff for free publicity. I didn't like it one bit but had to do it anyway because of my contract. I didn't want anything like that happening to you."

Miley hugged him and said "Thanks daddy." She thought about how to bring up the subject of her not wanting to kiss Joanie and Ashley in the auditions. She realized that there no way she could just ease into it so she decided to just lay it out to him. "I know I promised to go through with it but I don't think I can do the auditions, not the kissing part with Ashley and Joanie. I don't like them and I can't stand them." As Miley spoke she looked her dad in the eyes while silently silently begging him to let her off the hook.

Robbie Ray recognized the pleading look on Miley's face immediately but he had no intention of letting her off easy this time. "The girl who kissed a dog on national TV says she can't do this. The girl who fake dated Austin Rain, a boy she can't stand, for almost a month says she can't kiss a couple girls she doesn't like."

"But Daddy that was different. I mean at least Austin was a boy and I was able to pretend I was kissing a boy that I liked whenever I had to kiss him. And the dog, well I …. OK I have to agree about the dog."

Robbie Ray said in a serious tone. "Look Miley I believe in you and know that you can do this. Not just the audition parts either but the whole thing and you can do it very well regardless of who gets the part. I know this, Mr. Terry knows this and I know that deep down you know it too." He watched her as she thought about what he had just said. He could almost hear her thinking about it.

At first Miley didn't want to admit to herself that what he said was true. She knew deep down that she could go through with not just the audition but the whole play and do a good job even if Lilly didn't get

the part. If Lilly didn't get the part she wouldn't like it, not one bit, but she knew she could do it. Then she considered sabotaging Jonie and Ashley's auditions. Almost as soon as that thought her dad interrupted her train of thought.

"Look Miley I know that this audition thing is going to be tough on you. So I'll make a deal with you. If you promise me that you'll do you very best during the auditions, and not just with Lilly but with all the girls trying for that part, I'll consider that punishment enough and lift the grounding." Then before Miley could respond he quickly added "But if don't do your very best you'll be grounded again for twice as long. Is it a deal?"

Miley didn't have to think about that for more than a second before saying. "Deal. I promise to do my very best during the auditions."

Meanwhile over at Lilly's house her mom was watching TV when Lilly came home from her informal date with Oliver. Heather Truscott had Lilly's copy of the script lying next to her on the end table. Lilly wanted to discuss how she felt about the play first ever since she had finally read the whole thing after she left Miley's house earlier. She had tried talking to Oliver about it while on their date but it didn't help her at all.

"Mom, can I talk to you about the play?"

"Sure sweetie, so what is it about the play that you want to talk about?

"Did you read it like I asked you to?"

"Yes I did and I like it. I think it great that, since you and Miley said that you support gay rights, gay marriage and so forth, you two are getting involved in something like this."

"I don't think I can do it mom."

Why do you say that? You said that you really liked the play once you read it through. What part of the play is it that you have problems with?"

"I know I said that and I really mean it but..." Her voice trailed off as she thought how say what she felt. "You read the play so you know that I'm gonna have to act like I'm in love with Miley and kiss her like I do with Oliver. I don't think I can do it. Well I can do it, but I don't think I can do it well enough to make it seem like my character is in love with Miley's character."

"Sure you can Lilly. I know you can." She smiled at her as she spoke trying to reassure her. "When you go places with Hannah you go as Lola right. I've noticed that you not only look different as Lola but you act like a different person as well."

"No way. All I do is put on the wild wigs and outfits but other than that it's just me."

"Yes way Lilly. When you get dress up as Lola, you do things and behave in ways you wouldn't normally do. It's like you become another person. You even talk differently."

Lilly looked very surprised when she heard her mom say that. "I do?"

"Yes you do and if you can do that, you can bring the your character in the play to life."

"I guess maybe I could, but the characters Rachel and Julie are lesbians and I'm not. I don't know how to act gay."

"How are gay people supposed to act? What about the gay kids in your school, do they act 'gay'?"

"I don't really know of any gay kids at my school so I don't know how they act and that's the problem."

"I know your school has a LGBT support group and it's a safe bet that some if not most of the student members are gay and lesbians. Do they act 'gay'?"

"I never thought of that mom but I'm sure you're right." Lilly thought about that fact for a second or two before adding. "In fact a couple people I know are members but they don't act any differently than everyone else. I guess I don't know as much about them as I thought."

"Lilly I've found that most gay people don't advertise their lifestyle. You'll find that they're regular people just like everyone else except for the fact that they prefer partners of the same gender. So you don't have to worry about how to act gay. All you have to do is act like a girl in love, one that happens to be in love with another girl but a girl in love none the less."

"Oh, I guess I might be able to do that but it just seems so weird to me." The look on Lilly's face and the set of her shoulders showed that she felt less sure about being up to the task then her words indicated.

"I know it does but that is something you and Miley are going to have to work out." Heather Truscott sighed before she went on to say. "Lilly you're going to have a huge advantage over the other girls auditioning for the same part. First of all you're able to practice for the audition with Miley and the other girls won't be able to do that. Second the two of you have been close friends for years and know each other very well. Last of all the love you too have for each other will almost certainly make playing the parts a lot easier then you might think."

Lilly was reassured enough by her mothers words that she finally felt, for the first time since learning the full truth about the character, like she was actually able to play the character and do a good job of it. Lilly smiled and said in a much lighter tone of voice as she hugged her mother "Thanks mom, you really helped me a lot."

After completing the hug Lilly practically flew off the couch and headed towards her room while pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. Before she was able to even use the speed dial for Miley's number her phone began to ring. Miley's name was display on the phone's small screen. Lilly answered it before it could ring a third time. "Hey Miles, I was just going to call you."


	5. First Kiss

Over the next few days Miley and Lilly spent as much time as they could going over the their lines needed for the auditions. They had practiced every aspect except one, which was the part where they had to kiss. While Miley was confidant that she could do just fine kissing Lilly when it came time to do so. She blamed it on Robbie Ray, Jackson and Oliver and the fact that whenever they practiced one or more of the three were present. Oliver was a problem because he was not only Miley's best friend but also Lilly's boyfriend which tended to make them even more self conscious than they already were. Jackson was prone to making snide and crude remarks about the situation. Because Robbie Ray was Miley's dad he was an authority figure plus his alternating between joking and giving disproving looks did not help make it any easier for them.

At least that was the excuse Miley used when she discussed it with Lilly between classes Wednesday afternoon when Oliver wasn't around. She suggested to Lilly that they had to practice alone for a change. Miley explained that they needed to practice not only without the boys helping with the lines, but without anyone else around so they could work things out without being hampered by any discomfort they might feel from the presence of others. Miley had also suggested the possibility getting a room or suite at a hotel for the evening when Lilly mentioned that her mom told her that she would going out on a date and they could have the house to themselves. Miley had taken that suggestion from Lilly as an agreement with what she had suggested.

When Miley got home from school she immediately went to her room and tossed her books on the bed. As soon as she had changed to some more comfortable clothes she went looking for her father. She found him in his office which was the first place she looked. "Daddy, I'm gonna go over to Lilly's house for dinner then practice for Lilly's audition afterwards."

"OK but why don't you guys want to practice over here?"

"We would but every time we try to practice without any disruptions Jackson either makes some kind noise or he making snide remarks about it. In other words he just won't leave us alone when we're here."

"I understand and I'll have a talk with that boy about it."

Miley smiled and said "Thanks daddy."

She went to watch some TV before going over to Lilly's house. As she tried to watch TV her mind raced at the prospect of being alone with Lilly so they could practice the kissing scene for the audition on Saturday. Miley desperately wanted Lilly to get the part so she wouldn't have to do the play with any other girl let alone with Joanie or Ashley. Since she found it impossible to concentrate on what was on TV she gave up on that and went upstairs. She decided to start getting ready to go over to Lilly's early so she'd have plenty of time. She showered, put on some makeup and the perfume that Lilly had said she really liked. After that she went to pick out what to wear. After spending nearly an hour picking out what to wear Miley said out loud to herself "Wait a minute here since when does it take me almost an hour to decide what to wear to Lilly's house?"

Meanwhile when Lilly got home from school the first thing she did was to get started cleaning her room. Even though it was usually neat she wanted to make sure that it was immaculate. After she finished doing that she called her mom and let her know that Miley would be coming over for dinner then practice for her audition. While she was on the phone Mrs. Truscott mentioned that since she wouldn't have time to make dinner she suggested that Lilly should order a pizza or some Chinese take out for dinner. Lilly would've preferred to order Miley's favorite dish but since she didn't know of any place that made catfish stew, she decided that a pepperoni pizza would have to do.

When her mom got home from work she gave Lilly some money for the pizza before getting ready to go out for the evening. While Her mom was getting ready Lilly decided to do the same. After taking a quick shower Lilly far more time deciding what to wear and picked out the fragrance she knew Miley liked.

As she was finishing up putting on her make up her mom came in and said "Here's where I'll be at and the number there just in case I have my cell phone turn...... I thought that it was just Miley coming over, was there a change in plans?"

Lilly put the finishing touch on her lip gloss then answered, "No change mom, it's still just Miley."

"Then why are ….. " Heather Truscott's voice trailed off as she realized what was going on. At that moment all the clues from both of the girls recent behavior clicked and she had a better idea what was happening between Lilly and Miley than they knew. "Oh, well have fun practicing tonight. I'll probably be out late tonight so don't stay up waiting for me."

"OK, thanks mom." Lilly wondered about what her mom had started to say but decided that it probably wasn't important anyway. "You have fun too and I guess I'll see you later."

A few minutes later she heard her mom go out the front door. Shortly after that Lilly looked at the clock and noticed that she better order pizza so it would be delivered in time for dinner.

Twenty minutes later Miley was knocking on the front door of Lilly's home. Normally she would have just gone in without knocking but she was so nervous that she wanted the little bit of extra time it gave her to try to settle her nerves. While waiting she was hit by the thought that Lilly would answer the door dressed in everyday clothes making her seem overdressed. This wasn't first time she been over for dinner and she had never needed to get dressed up like she had this time. She also worried if being this dressed up would put Lilly off or something. Before she could come up with any more worries the door opened revealing Lilly who was just as dressed up as she was in a gorgeous dress that Miley had never seen before. She had on a red dress with a hem line that barely reached mid thigh and a slim black belt with a dainty silver and gold pattern. The belt not only accentuated her figure it also complemented the subtle gold edging on the plunging v-neck collar and the short sleeves that barley covered her shoulders. As she went inside Miley noticed the smell of the perfume that she had mentioned that she liked almost a year ago.

Lilly was so relieved that it felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She so pleased to see that Miley had gone to just as much effort in getting ready as she had done. Miley was wearing one her best outfits. She had on a white short sleeve satin blouse which had an intricate pattern of lace on the wide collar with mother of pearl buttons that was obviously from one of Hannah's designer outfits. She also had on a simple yet luxurious short sky blue pleated skirt that flattered her svelte figure and showed off her beautiful long legs. It was obvious that Miley had taken great efforts on getting her makeup just right. It was almost just as good as when the makeup artists got her ready for a concert, TV show or some other public appearance as Hannah Montana. Lilly also notice that Miley was wearing the perfume that she said she really liked, which surprised her since Miley didn't really like it.

Both girls were so relieved at the fact they weren't over or under-dressed that it led to a more relaxed atmosphere for their dinner. Until that moment they had been more than a little nervous about the whole purpose of the practice session they had planned, but the obvious effort each of them had put into making themselves look their best helped to settle their nerves. On the surface they were oblivious to the fact that they had each put in just as much effort getting ready for a simple dinner with their best friend as they did a big date with their boyfriends. But deep down, on a subconscious level, questions were raised feelings were stirred.

About an hour later after they had finished dinner Miley was reading a magazine while relaxing on Lilly's bed when there was a knock on the door. "Come in" she said as she laid the magazine down next to her.

The door opened and Lilly came in then said "Julie I have something to talk to you about."

Miley moved so that she was now sitting up on the edge of the bed. She patted next to her on the bed as she said "Come here Rachel and tell me about it."

Lilly sat next to her then when she hesitated to speak Miley said "Well what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Lilly wrung her hands nervously as she said "I don't know how to start."

Miley looked her friend in the eyes and said "Well then just spit it out Rachel, you know you can tell me anything."

Lilly hesitated for a second or two then suddenly she leaned in towards Miley and gave her a quick kiss on the lips then said "I love you Julie. I...." Lilly didn't get a chance to finish thew rest of her line before she was suddenly interrupted.

"What am I, chicken feed?" Miley said so loudly that it startled Lilly. "That wasn't a kiss it was more like a chicken pecking at feed."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to but it seems so weird." Lilly looked as nervous as her character Rachel was supposed to be. "It just that I've never kissed a girl like that before."

"Neither have I," Miley snapped back at her, "but come Saturday you'll only have to kiss me, while I'm gonna have to kiss you, Joanie, Ashley and any other girls who audition for the part."

Lilly looked hurt as she replied "I know that Miley but it doesn't make this any easier." As Lilly spoke there was a storm of mixed feelings raging with in her and she hoped that Miley wouldn't notice.

"I'm sorry I said it like that Lilly." Miley looked truly sorry as she said that. "I guess I'm a lot more nervous about this than I thought I was." Miley was too busy sorting out her own feelings to really notice what was going on with Lilly. As brief as the contact of Lilly's lips with her own lips had been, it had stirred up feelings in Miley that she had not been prepared for. Little did Miley realize was that Lilly was going through pretty much the same thing.

Both girls sat in silence for almost a minute sorting things out. Miley was the first to break the silence. "Look Lilly we've both got our lines down pat. We know them by heart so that's not the problem. The problem is that we're not comfortable with the kissing part and we need to be if you're going to get the part."

Lilly knew where Miley was headed with what she had said. Undoubtedly Miley was going to say that they were going to have to get comfortable with kissing each other, which didn't surprise her since she had already come to the same conclusion before they had arranged for this practice session. So Lilly decided to finish saying what Miley had started. "You're right Miley, we need to be comfortable kissing each other in order to pull it off, and the only way we going to do that is to practice kissing." The look on Miley's face told Lilly that she had been correct.

After that had been said both girls sat there silently for several minutes before Miley said "I guess there's no easy way to start this except for to.." Miley suddenly leaned in and kissed Lilly, then finished what she had been saying ".. get started."

While that brief kiss had lasted only a couple of seconds, it had surprised both girls considerably. Miley knew right then that getting used to kissing Lilly was going to be a lot easier than she had thought it would. Lilly had been surprised that being kissed by Miley was not the least bit repulsive like she had expected it to be.

"See that wasn't so bad was it Lilly?" After a couple seconds Miley took Lilly's silence as agreeing with her. "Why don't you give it a try this time."

Lilly nodded her head slightly as she said "OK." She took a couple of slow deep breaths then she kissed Miley much more gently and a little longer than she had the previous time. "How was that?"

"Better, a lot better. I didn't feel like I was being peck at by a chicken this time but...." Miley paused to think of a nice way to say that still needed more work.

Before Miley could continue Lilly finished it for her "...but it needs work, a lot of work."

"Lilly, I've got an idea."

"What is it?"

"Well first of all can we go some place else, I'm not very comfortable sitting here on your bed." It wasn't sitting on the bed that made Miley uncomfortable but she hoped that Lilly would know what she really meant.

Lilly let out a sigh of relief then said as she stood up "Sure we can. To tell the truth I'm not comfortable either." Lilly gave Miley a look that let her know that she understood what she had meant.

On their way downstairs Miley presented her idea. "I think we might be going about this the wrong way Lilly."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Lilly do you know why are our characters kissing?"

"That's easy, because they're in love with each other."

"Right, so it should be easy enough for us to act the same way."

"Huh, how do you get that?"

"It's simple Lilly. Even though we aren't in love with each other we are close friends and we are in love with our boyfriends. Am I right?

"Yeah but how does that help."

"Do you remember how you felt when you and Oliver first kissed?"

"Of course I do."

"I want you to think about how you felt then. While you do that I'll do the same."

"OK I'll do that"

Miley waited about a minute then said "Now while you continue thinking about that I want you to pretend that I'm Oliver and kiss me. Close your eyes if you need to, but pretend that you're kissing Oliver."

After a few seconds Miley, felt Lilly kiss her ever so gently. Before she realized what was happening Miley found herself responding to the kiss. By then as far as Miley was concerned she was reliving her first real kiss with Jake. When the illusion faded Miley opened her eyes as she realized that not only were they kissing but that it no longer felt awkward to her. A part of her didn't want the kiss to end but even though she knew it had to end.

When the kiss finally ended Miley was surprised to find that while the kiss had seemed to have lasted a lot longer it had only been a few seconds long. As soon as she recovered from her surprise she said, "Now that's more like it Lilly. We just need to be able to do that at the audition but without having go through the warm up. So we to work on that"

A smile crossed Lilly's face then she said in a joking tone "Now I get it, all this is just an excuse for you to make out with me."

Miley was momentarily surprised but when Lilly started giggling she knew it was a joke. "Yeah that's right, I set up the whole play thing just so I could make out with you ." Miley barely managed to say that before breaking out in laughter.

After having a good laugh about the situation both of them felt considerably better about it. Now that they had finished laughing Lilly said "Maybe we shouldn't waste any more time get started then."

"OK" Miley agreed. "Let's work on Julies response next." Even though they were already sitting close together Miley moved even closer to Lilly until there was almost no space between them then she waited about 30 seconds to give them time to get in the proper frame of mind then she kissed Lilly even more passionately that before. They spent next three hours practicing like this before they decided to quit.

_**A/N: Sorry it took so long but in the middle of writing this chapter I came up with an idea for another story which immediately wrote down the outline so I wouldn't forget it. I promise to finish this story before I do any more on that other one which will be a drama and a Hannah Montana/Lizzie McGuire crossover. Oh yeah don't forget to click on the review button.**_


	6. The Auditions

Lilly decided to arrive early for the audition but when she pulled in to the parking lot Miley's car was already there. She wondered why Miley hadn't told her that she was going to be here early, then they could've gone together. When she went to the auditorium the door was locked and there was a note on it that directed those auditioning for parts in the play to wait in the _game room_. When she got there she found Miley already waiting.

"When did you get here Miley"

"About 15 minutes ago, why?"

"I was hoping that we could have come here together thats all. So did you get everything done?"

"Yep, got everything ready for summer vacation."

"I got to thinking last night and I realized that I shouldn't have been surprised about the topic of the play."

"Why do you say that Lilly?"

"Well considering the director Mr. Terry's obvious orientation I should have suspected something like this."

"Ya think he's gay don't you?" Miley said flatly.

"Well of course I do. Just look at how he acts." Lilly looked and sounded very confident in her opinion.

"I know what you mean cause I thought the same thing when I first met him. It wasn't until I met his wife and kids that I realized it was just an act. Me and daddy had dinner at his house a couple times since we finished the movie and he doesn't act like that at all when he's home. He's definitely not gay but he acts they way he does because it helps bring in business at his salons and it also helps get him work on films and plays."

"Really?" The surprise in Lilly's voice and the look on her face proved that she was genuinely surprised at the revelation. "So I guess he's kinda like you in some ways."

"Yeah I guess you can say that." Miley decided to change the topic of the conversation and said "So are you ready for the audition"

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Right after Lilly said a tall woman carrying a clipboard came in.

"I'm Mr. Terry's assistant Janet Becknall. Ms. Stewart I need you to come with me." When Miley got up and went over to her Lilly got up as well. "I'm sorry Miss you'll have to wait here until we're ready to begin the auditions."

Lilly got a little flush in the cheeks as she came to a halt then said, "OK."

"Since the auditions will be starting in about a half hour or so you won't have to wait long."

It wasn't long after that when other people began to arrive including Joannie and Ashley. About 15 minutes later Mr. Terry and one other person entered the room. At first very few people notice his entrance but once he stood on a chair and started clapping his hands while saying loudly "Attention people, may I have your attention."

It wasn't long after that when the noise level in the room died away. He smiled then began by saying "First of all I want to thank you all for coming. I have an announcement to make. Due to contractual obligations Hannah Montana won't be able to play the role of Julie Carson as we had hoped but we do have an alternate for the role available. Most of the other supporting characters have been already cast. The roles of Rachel Martin, James Martin and John Roberts have yet to be cast. Those of you auditioning for the role of Rachel will come with me while the others will stay here with my assistant Janet.

He led Lilly and the other four girls to a lounge area where they found Miley seated on the sofa and a woman about Mr. Terry's age sitting in an overstuffed next to it. Lilly barely heard both Ashley and Joannie muttering something unintelligible when they saw Miley. She was sure that whatever they said under their breath wasn't nice which made her smile and feel better about her chances of getting the part. Once the door was shut Mr. Terry pointed to the chairs at the table and asked them to take a seat.

Once they had taken the seats Mr. Terry had indicated he said "Due to the intimate nature of the the auditions they will be private. I do want you girls to keep in mind that who ever gets the role of Rachel Martin will not have the privilege of practicing in private, since the play will ultimately viewed by a public audience. Now Ms. Stewart here has been chosen to play the part of Julie Carson and she has graciously agreed to help with this audition. Your audition will be judged by your interaction with Ms. Stewart since it is a key part of the play. Ms. Davidson and myself will read for the other parts as necessary for the audition."

Ashley Dewitt raised her hand as she said "Mr. Terry, what do you mean by our interaction with Miley and the intimate nature of the audition?"

He had an exasperated look on his face as he said "How many of you girls have read the scripts I gave you when you signed up?" Lilly was the only one who raised her hand in reply to the question. ""I suppose that the rest of you just read the title of the play and the first one or two if any of the three scenes I had indicated you should practice." Several of the girls just barely nodded their heads as he spoke, which Mr. Terry noted but gave them no chance to interrupt. "For you in formation the characters are lesbian lovers and the play 'Julie; A modern interpretation of Romeo and Juliet' is a story about two young women who fall in love and how their families deal with it."

It was so quiet in the room after he said that that the proverbial pin drop would have seemed loud. Mr. Terry waited several seconds before continuing "If any of you girls have a problem with that you can

turn in your copy of the play and leave."

One of the two girls Lilly and Miley didn't know got up and said "I can't do that. I can't play a lesbian but if you have another female character who isn't one, can I play that?"

"I'm sorry but all of the other supporting roles have been cast. If you're willing to be an alternate, just in case one of them can't perform, please contact my assistant Janet before you leave." Once that girl left only Lilly, Ashley, Joannie and a beautiful Asian girl that none of them knew.

"OK the way we're going to do this is I'll call your name then you'll join Ms. Stewart over there." Mr. Terry indicated the sofa at the other side of the room. "Then you will act out the scenes I've selected, which are the ones I marked in the scripts you were given, with myself and Ms. Davidson reading any other parts as necessary."

Joannie Palumbo held up her hand and asked "Mr. Terry why does Miley Stewart have the role of Julie? There weren't any auditions for it."

"The role of Julie Carson was originally offered to Hannah Montana just as the role of Rachel Martin was offered to Mikayla. Unfortunately neither one was able to take the role so we went through the list of alternates provided by the producer of the play. When Ms. Stewart came in to sign up I found that her name found to be on the list of alternates for the role of Julie. As of last Friday all of the alternates for the role of Rachel had turned down the role so we decided to hold open auditions for it. Does that answer your question.?"

"I guess so, but why her?" It was clear that Joannie wasn't happy with the answer she'd been given.

"Miss...?" Mr. Terry started then paused for Joannie to supply her name.

"Joannie, Joannie Palumbo."

"Ms Palumbo, why Ms. Stewart was chosen as an alternate is unimportant. What is important is that she has agreed to play the role." The stern tone of Mr. Terry's voice made it perfectly clear that he was no longer going to discuss it any further. Only Lilly noticed that all signs of his effeminate behavior had disappeared in his last reply which convinced her that Miley had been right about him.

"Ms. Joannie Palumbo you're up first." He waited for her to take a seat next to Miley on the couch.

As Joannie approached the sofa Miley was momentarily overcome with an urge to call it quits rather than go through the audition with her. Almost as quickly she remembered her father and Mr. Terry's confidence in her ability to go through with it and do a good job as well. She also remembered her promise to carry it through. Then she realized that if she quit she'd no longer have a good excuse to make out with Lilly anymore. That last thought, as much as it had surprised her, had steeled her resolve go through with it more than anything else.

Once Joannie sat down he went on to say "OK this is Act 1 Scene 1: The New Kid in School. Julie is waiting for her mom to pick her up after school when Rachel introduces herself. OK action."

Joannie hesitated a few seconds before starting. "Hi Miley, I'm Rachel. We ..."

"Cut!!" Mr. Terry said loudly. "It's Julie not Miley, Ms. Palumbo. Now from the top please."

"Hi Julie, I'm Rachel. We have chemistry together." Joannie managed to say the line in a somewhat friendly manner, which surprised both Miley and Lilly.

Miley looked confused and a little surprised as she gave the mono syllable reply "Huh?"

There was a long pause as Joannie read her next lines before saying them. "Mr. Parker's fifth period chemistry class. I sat one row left and two seats behind you. Anyhow don't you just hate those new kid introductions the teachers love to give."

That last line reminded Miley of the day when she and Lilly first met. It had been her first day of school after moving to Malibu. Lilly had said pretty much the same thing at first period recess. They had been best friends ever since that day. Miley used that memory to help her delivery for the rest of he scene.

"Yeah, it's like they can't wait to embarrass you in front of bunch of strangers. I got that six times today. I guess you know that I'm Julie Carson, and you're Rachel …..."

"Martin. I saw you sitting here so I thought I'd say hi while waiting for my ride."

"I'm waiting for my mom to come pick me up."

"Me too." While Joannie's tone of voice was almost pleasant, her feelings weren't and it showed in her body language. Miley on the other hand was managing, just barely, to not let her dislike of Joannie influence her performance.

Just then a cell phone rang which Miley pulled out of her pocket and answered. "Hello....... Hi mom...... What.......... Why can't you pick me up first? …...... How long will it take? …..... I guess I can wait that long. Bye." The disappointment in Miley's voice and on her face as she spoke seemed real.

"It looks like I'm gonna have to wait a while for my ride home. My mom said a patient's appointment is going to take a lot longer than expected and I have to either take a bus or wait for my dad pick me up after work. Since I don't know which bus to take I gotta wait for my dad."

"That sucks" Joannie paused a few seconds then finished the line. "Hey maybe my mom could give you a ride home. Where do you live?"

"1624 east Sycamore street."

Joannie paused again to look at the script before beginning her next line. "Cool, you live just down the street from us. When my mom gets here I'll ask her."

"Thanks, I really don't want to wait an hour for my dad to come get me."

"So what do your folks do?"

"My dad's the new administrator for Mercy Memorial Hospital and my mom's a dental assistant."

Just then Ms. Davidson said "Honk, honk."

After a few seconds of waiting Miley said quietly "Joannie, it's your line." Miley saw Mr. Terry roll his eyes as she prompted Joannie.

"My mom's here lets go ask her if you can ride home with us."

"OK girls let's skip to the next scene and go right to act 2 scene 2." Mr. Terry said in an impatient tone.

As Joannie flipped the pages to that scene Miley guessed , judging from Mr. Terry's tone and the look on his face, that unless nobody else could do better, Joannie had already blown the audition. Miley hadn't even needed to look at her copy of the script during that first scene and she was so sure that she wouldn't need it for the next one that she didn't even turn to that page. In fact she set the script down on the end table next to the sofa. She hoped that Lilly would pick up on the hint since they both had all three of the marked scenes memorized.

"OK Ms. Palumbo come and stand over here until you get your cue." Once she had done that Mr. Terry said "Are you ready Ms. Stewart?" Miley picked up a magazine opened it then nodded her head yes. Mr. Terry rapped his knuckles on the table to give Miley her cue.

"Come in" she said as she laid the magazine down next to her.

Joannie responded to Mr. Terry's cue and stepped forward as if entering the room and said "Julie I have something to talk to you about."

Miley thumped the seat next to her on the sofa as she said "Come here Rachel and tell me about it."

Joannie sat next to her then when she hesitated to speak Miley said "Well what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Joannie looked at the others in the room before hesitantly saying "I don't know how to start."

Miley looked her in the eyes and said "Well then just spit it out Rachel, you know you can tell me anything."

Joannie hesitated then suddenly she leaned in towards Miley and gave her a quick kiss on the lips then said "I love you Julie. I've loved you since the first time I saw you."

While Joannie got the words right the delivery was devoid of any emotion. When Miley heard that she almost smiled because she knew that Lilly could do it a thousand times better. Without any hesitation Miley began her lines while pretending it was Lilly instead of Joannie sitting next to her. "Oh Rachel, you don't know how glad I am to hear you say that." Then she took Joannie in her arms and began kissing her passionately.

Almost as soon as Miley started kissing her Joannie began squirming then pushed her away. "I can't do this Mr. Terry at least not with someone I can't stand."

"First of all young lady when it comes to acting you can't let your personal feelings for you fellow cast members interfere with your performance." Mr. Terry's flamboyant mannerisms accentuated his words perfectly as he spoke "For example I'm pretty sure that Ms. Stewart feels the same way about you but she didn't let those feelings ruin her performance. Now if you still the feel that way Ms. Palumbo I'll consider your audition over. Just leave your copy of the script with me on your way out."

After Joannie had left he turned to those girls who were left and said "OK ladies maybe I should have asked this in the first place. Do any of you have any problems with kissing another girl?" He waited several seconds and when none of them said anything he said "OK then let's get back to work. Ms. Davidson who's next?"

"That will be Ashley Dewitt."

As Ashley and Miley went through the first scene of the audition Lilly watched with a critical eye. She noticed that, while Ashley needed to read from the script delivery of the lines were a lot smoother and with much more feeling than Joannie's was. She also noticed that Miley was a natural at acting because not only was her delivery much better, she also didn't need to read from the script at all. Lilly had known that all along but she had never been in a position to see her really show off her acting skills before now. She had always been either involved in it therefore too close to really notice or backstage where she really couldn't see it. The one time she actually saw Miley act while in the audience was in an episode of Jake Ryan's show as Hannah a few years ago. Unfortunately that episode offered little opportunity to show her acting skills except when she had kissed the dog at the end.

Miley had felt a bit more comfortable doing the scene with Ashley than she had with Joannie, but not nearly as comfortable as she felt with Lilly. Miley

Mr. Terry said "Hey Julie, do you have a date for the homecoming dance?"

Miley delivered her line right on cue. "No, why do you want to know?"

"Well since you're the new girl in town and don't already have a date I figured that I'd give you an opportunity to go to the homecoming dance with the hottest and most popular guy in school."

"Who?"

"Yeah Jimmy who is it? I know it can't be you 'cause you sure ain't hot." Ashley said with all sting of the insults Miley threw Jacksons way when they argued.

"Rach, I asked you a million times not to call me Jimmy anymore. Call me James or Jim. Anyhow the guy is me. So how about it Julie?"

Miley said in a sheepish tone as if she was trying to avoid offending anyone. "I don't know I'll have to think about it."

"Come on Julie it will put you on a fast track to becoming popular here."

"Don't listen to him Julie. The only reason he's asking is because his girlfriend Rhonda dumped him a couple weeks ago and he can't get a date."

"She didn't dump me, we mutually decided to break up. Besides I had a date with Corrine Benson for the dance before she found out that she has to go out of town with her mom and dad that week. Don't listen to her Julie, she's just upset because nobody has asked her out to the dance because she's too much of a bitch."

"Thanks for asking Jim but no. I don't know anyone here well enough to go out with them yet."

"Come on Julie you know you want to go and it's only a dance. It's not as if I'm asking you to go steady or anything."

Miley just shook her head no as she said "No Jim. In fact I probably won't even go."

"Aw come on, why not. Is it because I'm Rach's older brother?"

"No it's not that at all. I just don't want to go with you."

"You know I'm probably your last chance to get a date cause nobody else is gonna ask you so just say yes you know you want to."

"Jimmy leave Julie alone. She's already said no several times so get it through you fat head she doesn't want to go to the dance with you. You're not the only guy who's asked her to the dance that she said no to."

"Oh yeah, who else has asked her?"

"Your buddies on the football team, Kevin and Brad that's who. And they were just as pigheaded about taking no for an answer as you are. Does all that testosterone and steroids make stupid and deaf?" Ashley's voice had raised up to almost a yell just as if she really had been telling her brother off.

After a few seconds Miley smiled and said "Thanks for your help Rachel. You were right about him being almost as bad about taking no for an answer just like the other two were."

"No problem that's what friends are for. Besides my brother and his friends can be real assholes some times."

"I really mean it, thanks a lot. I don't think I could have handled them as well with out your help."

"You're welcome Julie. I was glad to help." Ashley got the embarrassed look and smile just right as she spoke. The only thing missing was the blushing.

Right then Mr. Terry said loudly "That was great now lets move on to the last scene. Ms. Dewitt if you'll stand over here just as Ms. Palumbo did. Once Ashley was in the right place that Mr. Terry said "Are you ready?" Miley picked up a magazine opened it then nodded her head yes. Mr. Terry rapped his knuckles on the table to give Miley her cue.

"Come in" she said as she laid the magazine down next to her.

Ashley responded to right on cue and stepped forward as if entering the room and said "Julie I have something to talk to you about."

Miley patted the cushion next to her on the sofa as she said "Come here Rachel and tell me about it."

Ashley sat next to her then when she hesitated to speak, just like it said to in the script, Miley said "Well what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Ashley looked at Miley then said "I don't know how to start."

Miley looked her square in the eyes and said "Well then just spit it out Rachel, you know you can tell me anything."

Ashley momentarily hesitated then suddenly she leaned in towards Miley and gave her a quick kiss on the lips then said "I love you Julie. I've loved you since the first time I saw you."

While Ashley's delivery of the lines was good the kiss she gave Miley was as tender as Joannie's kiss had been rough, which surprised Miley. Miley found saying her next lines to Ashley easier than they had been when Joannie was sitting next to her. "Oh Rachel, you don't know how glad I am to hear you say that." Then she took Ashley in her arms and began kissing her passionately. Ashley didn't resist or squirm at all like Joannie had, she even returned the kiss like Lilly did when they had practiced but not with the same level of passion.

After a couple seconds Miley broke off the kiss then said "I've been in love with you ever since you were nice enough to offer me a ride home that first day."

Now it was Ashley's turn to initiate the next kiss which was to be longest and the last one of the scene. Ashley didn't hesitate but when she did there was no real feeling to it. Miley had expected Ashley's kisses to be at least like kissing the CPR dummy in health class but instead they were surprisingly pleasant. Oncer the kiss was over Miley said "Rachel, does this mean you want me to be your girlfriend?"

Ashley nodded her head yes then said with all the emotion and feeling that had been missing in her kisses "Yes it does. So will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course I will." Miley replied enthusiastically. Then a serious look came over her face before she said "But what about our families, how do you think they'll take it?"

Mr. Terry interrupted "OK ladies that will do just fine."

When Lilly had watched Miley and Ashley kissing she was hit by an intense feeling of jealousy which surprised her. She definitely didn't like the idea of Ashley kissing Miley especially when it appeared that Miley might be enjoying it.

Lilly heard Mr. Terry say "Who's up next?" She hoped that it would be her turn next but was disappointed to here Ms. Davidson say "Jenny Park is next."

She watched the first two scenes comforted by the fact that Jenny's reading of her lines weren't quite as good as Ashley's had been. While Jenny had made several errors with the lines her body language was much better than the other two girls had been. It wasn't until the third scene that Jenny did well. A little too well in Lilly's opinion. It was obvious that Jenny had no problems with kissing another girl. In fact it appeared that Jenny enjoyed it but what really bothered Lilly was that it looked like Miley was enjoying it too. Now more than ever before Lilly was determined to win that role. Her only reason for that at the moment was because she didn't want anyone else besides her to be kissing Miley.

When she was called to start her audition Lilly followed Miley's example and hadn't bothered with the script. She had memorized the lines and was confident that she didn't need it for the audition. Now Lilly was glad that she had gone last because she had gained a lot of insight on how Rachel's character needed to be played. Rachel had it bad for Julie from the first moment she saw her and Lilly was was going to play her that way.

As Lilly sat net to Miley she said "Hi Julie, I'm Rachel. We have chemistry together." The hint of sexual overtones in Lilly's voice and the look in her eye made it more than just an innocent greeting.

Miley looked confused and a little surprised as she gave the mono syllable reply "Huh?"

"We have Mr. Parker's fifth period chemistry class together. I was sittings one row left and two seats behind you. Anyhow don't you just hate those new kid introductions the teachers love to give."

"Yeah, it's like they can't wait to embarrass you in front of bunch of strangers. I got that six times today. I guess you know that I'm Julie Carson, and you're Rachel …..."

"Martin. I saw you sitting here so I thought I'd say hi while waiting for my ride."

As they continued the scene Lilly and Miley played off each other and made the scene come alive for those watching. Instead of there being two girls reading the lines of a play it was more like two friends meeting for the first time. It was also clear that at least Rachel was interested in becoming more than friends. That was something none of the other girls had even come close to doing.

When they were doing the second scene Lilly treated the character James just like she had seen Miley treat Jackson. While Ashley had done that too she had played it as if she was helping her friend while Lilly acted as if she was defending the girl she was in love with. When it came time to do the final scene of the audition Lilly was anxious to get started.

When Miley said "Come in" as she laid the magazine down next to her. Lilly stepped forward as if entering the room and said "Julie I have something to talk to you about."

Miley patted the cushion next to her on the sofa as she said "Come here Rachel and tell me about it."

Lilly sat next to her then acted as if she was going to speak then look down as if she was too embarrassed to speak.

When Miley said "Well what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" It reminded Lilly of their first real practice of this scene.

She looked at Miley then said "I don't know how to start."

Miley looked her square in the eyes and said "Well then just spit it out Rachel, you know you can tell me anything."

Lilly looked then suddenly she leaned in towards Miley and gave her a brief tender kiss on the lips then said "I love you Julie. I've loved you since the first time I saw you."

"Oh Rachel, you don't know how glad I am to hear you say that." Then she took Lilly in her arms and began kissing her passionately. Lilly responded with a passion she never had even with Oliver. She wanted the kiss to last forever but after a couple seconds Miley broke off the kiss then said "I've been in love with you ever since you were nice enough to offer me a ride home that first day."

Now it was Lilly's turn to initiate the next kiss which was to be longest and the last one of the scene. Lilly poured all her feelings into kiss and before she knew it she felt Miley's tongue against hers. She explore the inside of Miley's mouth with her own tongue just as she had done with Oliver many times. All too soon it was time to end the kiss.

"Rachel, does this mean you want me to be your girlfriend?" The look in Miley's eyes as she said that almost floored Lilly because it made her wonder if Miley was offering to become her girlfriend in real life.

Lilly nodded her head yes then said "Yes, yes it does." She returned the look of love Miley had just given her as she said "Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course I will." Miley replied enthusiastically. Then a serious look came over her face before she said "But what about our families, how do you think they'll take it?"

"I don't know but I'm sure we can handle it." Lilly embraced Miley and added "As long as we have each other we can handle anything"

Mr. Terry began clapping and said "That was wonderful. It looks like we've found our Rachel."

Both Joannie and Ashley said "What!"

Then Ashley added "They cheated by reading the script and practicing together."

Mr. Terry looked at her the said in a condescending tone "That was the reason I gave you girls each a copy of the script, so you could read it through and practice the scenes before the audition. Since they were the only ones who actually did that they did a whole lot better job than the rest of you."

Ashley's only response to that was grunting in displeasure then storming off with Joannie not far behind her.

While that was happening Lilly said to Miley "You were fantastic. Everything you said and did seemed so real."

"You were pretty damn good yourself Lilly." Miley smiled and added "You know you could teach Jake a thing or two about how to kiss a girl. Come on let's go celebrate your getting the part."

They headed for the door and on the way they met Jenny who said "You guys were fantastic. I wish I had practiced more."

"Thanks Jenny, you didn't do too bad yourself." Miley said politely.

Just as they were at the door Mr. Terry called for Miley. Lilly said "Go on I'll wait for you in the parking lot."

Lilly only had to wait in the parking lot about five minutes before she saw Miley coming out the door with Jenny Park. Lilly started to go meet Miley when she saw Jenny kiss Miley on the cheek before heading for her own car.

When she got close enough Lilly said to a very surprised looking Miley "What was that all about?"

"Well I guess it's safe to say that Jenny's gay. She just made a pass at me then asked me out that's all."

"What did she do when you said no?" When Miley didn't say anything Lilly said "You did tell her that you weren't gay and had a boyfriend?"

"Well not exactly. I just said that I couldn't go out with her. Then she said she'd be ready for me any time any where."

"I guess that's OK since we won't be seeing her any time soon."

"Um it might be a little sooner than that Lilly, she's your understudy for the play."


	7. The Dinner

"Lilly, she's your understudy for the play." echoed in Lilly's ears so loudly that she didn't hear what Miley had said next. It wasn't until Miley shook her shoulder and said "Are you OK Lilly?"

Lilly was so startled that she dropped her car keys. After a moment she responded "What , I'm OK I was just thinking about what you said about Jenny Park being my understudy."

Miley bent over to pick up Lilly's keys for her. "It's not a big deal Lilly, its kinda like insurance for the play. It's there just in case something happens to you, but it probably won't be needed." She put the keys in Lilly's hand then went on to say. "What I asked after that was where do you want to go celebrate your getting the part of Rachel? My treat, anywhere you want to go? Remember Hannah can get you into all the hottest spots in town on a moments notice."

Lilly was more than a little bit confused by the feelings she had when she saw Jenny kiss Miley on the cheek. It was similar to what she had felt while watch Miley kissing the other girls during the auditions but more intense. For a fleeting moment the word jealousy came to her mind but she dismissed it just as quickly as it came. There was no way she could be jealous because first of all she wasn't gay and second Miley was just he best friend not her girlfriend. Then she just mentally pushed that thought aside and concentrated on what Miley had just said and replied "Can Oliver come or is it just you and me?"

"Sure he can come in fact why don't you ask your mom too and I'll ask my dad." Although her words seemed cheerful enough there was still a hint of disappointment in her eyes and voice. Miley handed Lilly her keys and said "You might need these."

"Thanks," Lilly responded . She had noticed the hint of disappointment in Miley's voice and decided to think about it. "I'll think about where I want to go for dinner then call you later OK. See ya later." Even though the dinner had gone well and everyone had a good time she had the feeling that Miley wasn't having as much fun as she seemed to be. Lilly had the feeling that Miley had wanted it to be just the two of of them and that she wanted to talk to her about something.

The next day Miley went about her usual weekend routine of 3 to 4 hours practicing after breakfast. Then she did her homework before having lunch. As she was eating her dad said "What's bothering you bud?"

She was a little surprised by his question. "Nothing daddy," She replied feeling a little guilty about her lie. "Why do you ask?" She hoped that he wouldn't press the issue. Even though she was confused about the unexpected feelings she had while kissing all those girls during the audition, especially when she had been kissing Jenny, Miley had no desire to talk about it with her father. What she really wanted to do was to talk to her mom but that was impossible and she was sure that her mom hadn't made a video message for this situation.

"You just seemed distracted all morning long that's all." Robbie Ray was sure that something was bothering her. He wanted to help her if he could but he had learned from the last time that she said nothing was wrong in that way it was better not to push it. A couple years ago she had replied exactly the same way when he had asked what was wrong but he had pushed the issue that time. He wound up trying to deal with a teenage girl's emotional conflict that utterly confused to him and therefore was absolutely no help to Miley. He had to resort to using one of the videos that Susan had made for such occasions. This time he couldn't fall back on that since over the last few years all those videos had been used already. So he decided to just leave it be and said "Are you and Lilly going to be practicing for the play later?"

"I don't know yet. I haven't talked to her yet today." She stopped to take a bite of her sandwich before continuing. "I'm gonna call her after I finish lunch."

While Miley was talking to her dad Lilly, who had been struggling all morning with the feelings that the previous days events had evoked but had made no headway in making sense of them, finally went to her mom and told her everything that had happened. While the talk with her mom hadn't given her any real answers about her feelings it did convince Lilly that her confusion was normal and that in time she would get the answers she was looking for. She had also told her daughter about things from her past that had convinced Lilly that she understood her feelings completely.

When told about what Miley said and her apparent disappointment Mrs. Truscott said "Lilly, honey, of course she was disappointed. Miley's probably just as confused as you are plus she just got hit on by another girl for the first time in her life. Remember that she doesn't have a mother anymore to talk about things like this and I'm pretty sure that she wants to talk things out with you just like you have with me."

"But she has her dad to talk to and Oliver is her friend too."

"Lilly you've got a dad and Oliver is an even closer friend to you, did you talk to either of them?"

"No, why would I and besides they're guys so how could they understand my situation."

"That's my point Lilly, she doesn't want to talk to her father or a boy about this and she hasn't got a mother. I'm sure she wants to talk to you and she can't do that with Oliver around. Also please remind her that my offer still stands." Mrs. Truscott smiled at Lilly then added "Maybe you two could get something to eat or a cup of coffee after practice tonight." Mrs. Truscott started to go back to what she'd been doing when Lilly asked to talk with her then turned and said "Lilly when you see Miley later tell her that whenever she has a problem or a question that she can't talk to her dad about, she can talk to me about anything at anytime just like we do."

Later when Miley pulled into the driveway Lilly hurried out to the car. When she started to reach for the door handle the door popped open and Miley said "Hop in Lils." Then as she got in Lilly felt a momentary urge to lean over just enough to give Miley a quick kiss. Unknown to Lilly, Miley had the same urge as well.

"What do you think Mr. Terry wants to talk to us about?"

"Lilly, Mr. Terry doesn't want to talk to us. I said that Mr. Terry had called me and I wanted to talk to you about what he told me. As for what it's about, well have plenty of time to talk about it when we when we get to the restaurant."

"Restaurant, what restaurant?" Lilly said while wondering why she had mistaken what Miley had said on the phone earlier. " I thought we were going to practice."

"I said that I wanted to talk to you about that while we had an early dinner."

Lilly felt a little dumb at how wrong her assumptions had been and the fact that she must not have been really listening to what Miley had said earlier. "Oh, I guess I misunderstood what you said on the phone."

"Ya think." Miley said in a mocking manner then quickly added. "That's OK Lils sometimes I make that mistake too."

Now it was Lilly's turn to joke a bit. "Sometimes, come on Miles you're the queen of misunderstanding what people say." She gave a little chuckle then added "I guess we all make that mistake." .For the remainder of the drive they talked about mundane things like school, the weather and Miley's summer tour.

They continued to talk about mundane everyday things all through dinner. After their deserts and the check had been brought Lilly said "So what was it that Mr. Terry had told you?"

"You know how he said he still needed to find an understudy for me, well he still hasn't found one yet but he did come up with a possible solution but he wanted to see how we liked it. When he said he'd

call you about it I offered to tell you the idea for him."

"So, what's this brilliant idea?"

"He said that he'd keep looking for someone but for the time being he thought that since you were already familiar with the play maybe you could be my understudy?"

"How would that ….." Lilly's voice trailed off as she thought about it the moments later she said "I get it. If you can't perform and I still can then I take your place the Jenny takes mine. The chances are pretty slim that both of us won't be able to perform at the same time so it would work. I gotta think about it for a bit."

"OK, I told him the same thing but I'm willing to do it that way if you are. So, how do you suppose we should practice now?"

"What do you mean by that Miley?" Almost as soon as she said that Lilly realized what Miley had meant. "Oh, you mean Jenny too."

"Yeah, that." Miley fidgeted with her silverware as she spoke. "I figured that for most of the scenes all three of us could practice together but there are a few more intimate scenes that we might be more comfortable practicing separately, at least at first I mean. We also have to practice Saturday afternoons with the rest of the cast too."

"Yeah I guess you're right about that."

"We should call Jenny to tell her about the changes and work out a schedule soon."

"Yeah we should." Lilly said in agreement then added. "Miley why so much practicing, especially for us?"

"First of all you, me and Jenny have the leading roles. Compared to a professional production this isn't much practicing. If it was we'd be practicing 10 to 14 hours a day if not more. I know that because when I was filming Indiana Joanie that was how long I worked every day. If I wasn't busy in front of the camera I was going over the next scene I was gonna shoot." Then Miley grinned and said "I earned every penny of the money they paid me."

As Lilly thought about it she realized that she'd have to practice with Jenny as well as with Miley. This was a perfect opportunity for her to find out something that she had been wondering about ever since she found that she enjoyed kissing Miley. She would be able to find out if it was just Miley that she liked kissing or if she liked kissing girls in general. Then she began to wonder what it would be like kissing Jenny.

"I guess I'll give it a try," Lilly responded. "But what about Jenny, do you think she'll agree with it?"

"Lilly she's gay, of course she's going to be OK with it." Miley chuckled then added, "Besides if you had seen her checking you out yesterday you wouldn't need to ask that question. I bet at the first opportunity she'll ask you out too."

"She checked me out?" Lilly said in genuine surprise.

"Yep, she sure did. Lilly you're a gorgeous, sexy girl and any guy or lesbian would have to be blind not to at least checking you out." Miley was surprised that she had actually said that, but as soon as she said it she knew that she really meant it. Even as she was questioning why she had said it that way Miley found herself eying Lilly the same way she'd look at a sexy guy who caught her eye. In an attempt to change the direction her thoughts were taking she added "By the way Lilly, it won't be so bad practicing with Jenny cause she kisses almost as good as you do."

Miley almost groaned as she realized how the last few things she said must have sounded to Lilly. She was sure that Lilly must think she was hitting on her, which she wasn't. Not only that but she wasn't doing nearly as smooth a job of of it as when Jenny had hit on her the previous day. After they had finished talking to Mr. Terry Jenny had complimented her's and Lilly's acting by saying that they had seemed like they really were girlfriends. Just before they had exited the building Jenny had hit on her when asking her out on a date. Miley had not been expecting that at all and frankly had no idea how to respond to it. Normally she would have just politely turn her down but lately, mainly because of the play and her reaction to kissing Lilly, she was tempted by the offer while also afraid to accept it. After hesitating a few seconds she turned it down but in a such a way that hinted that she might be interested in accepting at a later date.

There was no way she could be hitting on her best friend or was she. Maybe she was and didn't realize it. What if she was subconsciously hitting on Lilly. It wasn't just the play and having to make out with her best friend on stage, although it was a big part of it, this was something she had occasionally wondered about ever since had started dating. That was, if she was really as interested in boys as she acted like, how come she could never have a boyfriend for more than a few weeks, if that long? And now that she finally had a boyfriend, namely Jake Ryan, it was a boy who was gone for more than half of the nearly six months they had been dating. She sure wished that her mom was still alive so she could ask her about all those things. She had tried to talk about these things with her dad but whenever she did it never came out the way she wanted it to and his answer was almost always to for her to just say no to the boys, which never helped her at all. The closest thing she had to a real mother these days was Lilly's mom and how could she talk about something like this with her. She wound up mumbling to herself "Shut up Miles before you totally freak out your best friend."

While Miley was busy mentally kicking herself Lilly was flattered by what she had just heard about Jenny checking her out. She was also a little concerned about the fact that she was pleased by knowing that a lesbian found her attracted. Before her talk with her mom it would have freaked her out a bit but now it was just one more factor in the whole straight or gay question she had to figure out. Not long after that the rest of what Miley had said sunk in which made Lilly wonder if her friend was hitting on her. She wasn't sure about it because there was more than one way to take what Miley had said. Normally the whole idea of Miley hitting on her would have been out of the question but with everything that had been going on with the play and the effect it had on her and obviously Miley as well, that had changed. Right then she knew that her mom had been just as right about Miley as she'd been about her. "Miley , there's something I want to ask you about?"

Miley's heart seemed to skip a beat as she imagined the worst before calmly replying "What is it?"

"Well all through our celebration dinner last night I had the feeling that you wanted to talk privately with me about something. Is that true?"

"Yeah I did and I still do. It just seemed that you didn't want to talk to me that's all."

"Why do you say that Miles?"

"Well the way you stuck so close to Oliver it was like you were glued to him. Plus it seemed like you were avoiding me the whole time."

Lilly was about to deny it but just before she actually said so she realized that she had indeed avoided Miley as much as she could the previous night. Oliver had even commented about that on their way home. After thinking about it a little longer she knew that she had been deliberately avoiding Miley as much as she possibly could last night and it was almost certainly for the very same reason Miley had wanted to talk to her. Now that she realized what she had done Lilly felt pretty bad about it.

"I hadn't realized that I was avoiding you until Oliver mentioned it to me on our way home last night. I'm sorry about that Miley." Lilly sighed then added "I guess I just wanted to think things ou......" Her voice trailed off as the look of disbelief told her that Miley wasn't buying her evasion. "OK, I was avoiding on purpose but it was because I wanted to sort things out first. I've been so confused by everything that's been happening and my feelings about it all that I wanted to talk to my mom about it first."

"Damn it Lilly, I've been feeling the same way but I can't do that can I. My mom died almost 5 years ago so I can't talk to her no matter how badly I want to." Miley missed her mom all the time but lately she felt that loss even more in her time of need and it showed in her eyes and voice as she spoke. "I can't talk to my dad about it and I'm sure as hell ain't gonna talk to Jackson about it. You're the only person I can talk to about this kind of stuff."

Lilly waited almost a minute to respond while she thought about the pain she had seen in Miley's eyes and heard in her voice. It really made her feel even worse about how she had acted the previous night. "I'm really sorry about how I acted last night. I had no that I was hurting you like that. I really am sorry." She took a deep breath then continued before Miley had a chance to say anything. "When I was talking to my mom earlier today she said that was how you must be feeling right now and how you'd be missing your mom and all that."

Miley's eyes opened wide in surprise at hearing that. "Did she really say that?"

"Yeah she did. Almost word for word in fact. I guess my mom really does understand what's going on." Lilly considered telling Miley everything her mom had said to her earlier then decided not to. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I never told you this but I've wondered about what it might be like to kiss another girl for quite a while but not enough to actually do it. Then when I had learned that I'd have to kiss you, I mean really kiss you like I would Jake, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to satisfy that curiosity." Miley paused to take a drink then said "When we finally did kiss I hadn't expected it to be they way it was. I had thought it might be like when I used to kiss my mom good night when I was little. I never imagined that I might like it as much as I did."

Miley watched Lilly's closely as she waited for her response. Most of what she had just said was true except that for the fact that Lilly was the girl she had been curious about kissing and that she'd been looking for an excuse to kiss her for quite some time. What really had Miley confused was that after finding that she not only liked kissing Lilly but that she was curious about doing more than just kissing. How in the hell do you tell your best friend that without creeping her out if she didn't feel the same way about you.

Lilly was relived to hear Miley say that. She had said almost the exact same thing to her mom just a few hours earlier this afternoon. She had wondered the same thing ever since had finally really understood what sex about, which happened shortly after she had hit puberty and had begun to experience sexual attraction boys first hand. Not long after that had happened she realized she had similar feelings girls too but not strongly enough to do anything about it. She wondered how long Miley meant by 'quite a while'. Was it longer or shorter than she'd been curious about girls. "Me too." Lilly said hoping to set her friend at ease which it apparently did judging from Miley's reaction. Then before she had taken any time to think about it she blurted out, "How long do you mean by quite a while?" She immediately regretted saying it even though she did want to know. "You don't have to answer if it's too personal. I'm just curious that's all." She quickly added before Miley had a chance to react to her question.

Miley thought about it for a second or two then "No, it's not too personal and I think I probably would of told you about sooner or later. " She took a deep breath to steady calm herself before starting the story. "About six months before my mom died my mom died Jackson and me were staying with my mom's sister's family while our mom and dad went to some big hospital for something. One day when I was hiding the hayloft in the barn to be by myself and I had fallen asleep. When I woke up I heard some voices which turned out to be my oldest cousin Mary Sue, she was about our age then, and her friend Alice. Since I wasn't supposed to be up in the loft I kept out of sight and as quiet as I could.

After a few minutes it got quiet so I decided to sneak out before anyone caught me up there. When I got to where I could see the rest of the barn below I saw my cousin and her friend kissing. I was really surprised because I'd never even heard about it before let alone seen anything like that. At that time I thought that girls only kissed boys. Any how I was so surprised that I just lay there watching them for I don't know how long. After a while I saw my cousin put her hand down inside the front of Alice's pant's. It wasn't long after that when I heard a someone outside the barn. They must have heard too because they stopped what they were doing and they left as quick as they could without being seen.

After my mom and dad came home I told my mom what I had seen and she told me that Mary Sue was a lesbian which meant that she liked kissing girls instead of boys. Since I was only 9 at the time I didn't much about it but as I got older I'd think about it every now and then and wondered what it'd be like to kiss a girl."

Lilly was so surprised about what Miley said all she could say was "Wow." She had nothing to compare to that story since she'd never witnessed anything like that in real life until she and Miley had kissed. "I don't have a story nearly that good. After seeing a few shows on TV with lesbian couples on them I started wondering what it might be like to kiss another girl, that's all."

What Lilly left unsaid was that Miley was the only girl she had ever considered kissing. That was until earlier when she found out about her being made Miley's understudy for the play. Now she was going to have to practice practice playing Miley's part with Jenny as well as her own. She knew that learning the lines wouldn't be the hardest part nor would playing the character of Julie right. The hardest part would be pulling off the kissing scenes with Jenny as well as she did with Miley. Lilly knew it would take practice but she was kind looking forward to it just to see if she liked kissing girls in general or did she just like kissing Miley.

Miley smiled and said "Lilly thanks for talking to me. It makes me feel a bit better knowing that I'm not the only one who was confused by all this." Miley sighed then said "I still wish I could talk to my mom about this stuff but I guess this will have to do."

Lilly knew this was the perfect time to tell Miley what her mom had asked her to tell Miley. "Miley you know that you can talk to my mom about this if you want to. She really does understand what we're going through. She even asked me to tell you that you can always talk to her about anything, anytime."

"I thought she was just saying that to be nice when she told me that almost four years ago. There have been times, like now, when I needed to talk to my mom about stuff I just couldn't talk to my dad about. I was really tempted to take your mom up on her offer but it just seemed too weird. Why would she want to help me like that, it's not like I'm her daughter or anything."

"That's just it Miley, she does think of you as family. In fact she's told me several times that you're like another daughter to her."

Miley smiled at hearing Lilly say that. "Really, that's fantastic. You know my dad says the same thing about you. Why do you think he gave you a key to our house?"

Now it was Lilly's turn to be pleasantly surprised. There was an awkward silence while they both thought about what the other had said. The silence lasted for a minute or so before Miley couldn't stand it any longer and said "You know it's still early enough for us to call Mr. Terry to tell him your decision, call Jenny about the changes and then we'd still have time to start going over the script thoroughly."

Lilly replied "Sure why not, since with all the work we have ahead of us the sooner we get started the better."

Soon enough the phone calls had been made and they were pulling into the driveway at Lilly's house. When they arrived Miley saw that Mrs. Truscott's car was gone which pleased Miley since it would give them time to go over the script and talk about how they would do the other even more intimate scenes that came later in the play. Soon enough they were in the living room and Lilly was asking if she wanted something to drink. The only thing Miley wanted was to drink in the sight of Lilly's beautiful face framed with gorgeous blond hair, with blues eye that sparkled like sapphires and luscious lips that practically begging to be kissed. As she thought about that Miley was hit by an almost unbearable desire to kiss Lilly right them so in an effort give her time to control that urge she said "Sure, just bring me what ever you got in the fridge."

Miley sat down on the big over-stuffed sofa and tried to relax as she waited. Before she knew it Lilly was back with two large glasses of iced tea and handed her one. Miley took a big drink of it then went to set it down on the end table next to her, making sure to use a coaster just like Mrs. Truscott liked them to. Lilly sat next to her and asked how she liked the tea as she set her own drink next to her copy of the script, which was on the coffee table in front of them. Then instead of answering the question Miley leaned towards Lilly and kissed her. Lilly responded by putting her arms around Miley and pulled her close while returning the kiss with a passion that surprised Miley.

They kissed like that for several minutes with both of their tongues taking turns exploring the others mouth before coming up for air. When they did Miley said "I've been wanting to do that ever since you got in the car when I picked you up."

Lilly's only response was to initiate an even more passionate kiss. As they kissed one of Miley hands began caressing Lilly seemingly of it's own accord while the other ran it's fingers through Lilly's golden tresses. Before she knew it Miley's wandering hand was cupping one of her friend's perfectly shaped breasts. As she fondled the breast it felt every bit as good in her hand as she had imagined it would.

When Lilly moaned with pleasure as they continued kissing it ignited a burning desire in Miley to go even further in pleasuring her best friend. She shifted her position just enough to give her even better access and continued exploring with her hand. Almost before she knew it Miley was slipping her hand down the front of Lilly's pants. When her fingers touched Lilly's womanhood she found that it was already very wet. As Miley began fingering her friend's wet pussy Lilly broke the kiss and began saying Miley's name over and over again getting louder each time. Eventually Lilly said her name so loud that it startled Miley and she suddenly found herself still sitting at the table in the restaurant.


	8. An Evening to Remember

Lilly knew this was the perfect time to tell Miley what her mom had asked her to tell Miley. "Miley you know that you can talk to my mom about this if you want to. She really does understand what we're going through. She even asked me to tell you that you can always talk to her about anything, anytime."

"I thought she was just saying that to be nice when she told me that almost four years ago. There have been times, like now, when I needed to talk to my mom about stuff I just couldn't talk to my dad about. I was really tempted to take your mom up on her offer but it just seemed too weird. Why would she want to help me like that, it's not like I'm her daughter or anything."

"That's just it Miley, she does think of you as family. In fact she's told me several times that you're like another daughter to her."

Miley smiled at hearing Lilly say that. "Really, that's fantastic. You know my dad says the same thing about you. Why do you think he gave you a key to our house?"

Now it was Lilly's turn to be pleasantly surprised. There was an awkward silence while they both thought about what the other had said. Lilly had not realized that Miley's dad felt that way about her at all. While she liked Robbie Ray more than the average adult male, to her he'd always seemed to just be a typical hillbilly who wasn't quite as rough around the edges as your average hillbilly. She figured that he tolerated her because she was Miley's best friend. She wondered how he'd feel about her if he knew that she was becoming attracted to his daughter in a way that wasn't normal.

After thinking along those lines for a minute or so Lilly snapped out of it and realized that several minutes had passed. She was about to apologize for her inattention when she noticed that Miley had that far way look in her eyes that she got when fantasizing about something. Over the past couple years what Miley usually fantasized about were really cute boys so she figured that it was either Jake or some other hot guy such as Gabe Lamottie. The number of those fantasies had dropped off when Miley had started going out with Jake Ryan again. Recently Lilly had put together a number of subtle clues that led her to believe that Miley was still crushing on some other hottie but she hadn't figured out who it was yet.

After another minute Lilly started calling Miley's name repeatedly, louder each time until she snapped back to reality. Judging from the embarrassed and slightly fearful look on Miley's face Lilly figured that she'd been having a very personal fantasy about some hottie.

"Miley, what's going on? You looked like you were fantasizing about a really hot guy."

"I was, kinda."

"What do you mean by kinda?"

"I was thinking about the play and what Jake might think of it if he saw us in it?"

Even though she'd been curious about lesbians herself Lilly rolled her eyes in mock irritation as she said "Tell me about it. Ever since he read the play Oliver has been bugging me to let him watch us practice the more intimate scenes. I bet when he learns about the deal with Jenny I bet he's gonna be even worse about it." Lily sighed the went on to say "What's with the fascination boys have with watching girls kissing or lesbian love scenes?"

"I don't know. It's not like us girls have the same fascination about guys kissing and stuff." Miley replied in relief that Lilly seemed to have bought her explanation about her fantasy. She didn't understand why she fantasized about Lilly that way or why she'd found it so pleasing. On some level she knew why boys were so fascinated by lesbians, but how do you tell your best friend that. The answer is, you don't. So she went on like she always did when this subject came up."I don't know about you but I'm not interested in watching two guys make out," Miley said, shuddering at the last part.

Lilly shuddered as she said "Me too." She quickly added "I mean I'm OK with gay's and all that, but I just don't want to watch it." Lilly was a little uncomfortable with the direction the conversation so in an effort to change the subject she said. "Miley are you serious what you said earlier about your dad saying that I was like a member of your family?"

Miley was relieved that Lilly had changed the subject. "Yep, he sure did and it was even his idea to give you a key to our house."

"I had no idea that your dad trusted me that much."

"He has for a long time. Believe it or not Lilly he suggested for me to tell you that I was Hannah Montana quite a few times before I finally did. That's how long he's trusted you."

"Wow. So I guess he wasn't testing me when he left that money on his nightstand when I was working as your housekeeper." This knowledge shed a whole new light on what she thought of Robbie Ray Stewart.

Miley pulled out her phone and checked the time then said "Hey Lilly, it's still early enough for us to call Mr. Terry to tell him your decision, stop at my house and pick up my copy of the script and still have plenty of time to start going over the script at your house."

Lilly check the time before replying "Yeah, with all the work we have ahead of us I guess we should get started as soon as we can."

When Miley had called Mr. Terry to tell him that Lilly had agreed to his idea she also mentioned her idea of her, Lilly and Jenny going over the script. Mr. Terry had liked that idea and suggested that they make notes of any questions or suggestions they might have then they could go over them with him at the civic center Wednesday night. Before hanging up Miley had asked him to give Jenny her cell phone number and have her call them so they could make arrangements. They didn't have to wait long before getting a call from Jenny. It turned out that Jenny wasn't be able to meet with them that evening but she had no problems with meeting with them the next evening. At first Jenny had suggested that they meet over at her house but but Lilly and Miley felt it would be better to meet at Lilly's house.

As they were nearing Lilly's house Miley was struck by how much things were going like they had in her fantasy. She was becoming nervous about the situation it presented her with. She couldn't help wondering if she could be so bold in real life and would Lilly really react that way. When they pulled into the driveway Miley was relieved to see Mrs. Truscott's car in the driveway. Now she wouldn't be tempted to live out that fantasy.

Over the next couple hours they both poured over the script carefully. At first they started making notes in the margins but after the first few pages they switched to using a couple of Mrs. Truscott's legal note pads instead. In the process both girls found that they many of the same questions and ideas about the script. By that time they both had almost a half dozen pages of notes each and they had only gone over the first two acts and about halfway through the third act..

When they finally stopped for the night Lilly commented "I'm glad we did that cause when I read it the first time I missed a lot of it."

"Me too." Miley drained last of what was left of her can of Coke, grimacing at the bitter taste of the warm and flat soda. "They ought to put a warning label on these things saying do not drink when warm and flat."

"I know, it tastes like poison or some kind of acid when it's like that." Lilly shook her can and could hear the last little bit swirling in the bottom of the can. She took the empty can from Miley as she said "Do you want another one to wash out the taste?"

"Sure do." Miley looked over her notes while Lilly was out of the room. Then when she returned she took the cold can and took a drink before saying "Thanks I needed that. Well as I was going to say, the first time I read it I thought only a couple weeks went by between the first scene and the one about the homecoming dance when it was over a month. That gives them plenty of time to become best friends. I also missed the bit about Rachel's brother saying that someone ought to beat the crap out of the gay boys who got caught making out."

"That explains what he does later in the play. You know Miles when I first read the script I thought it was just another typical romance story, all fluffy and nice but between two girls instead of a boy and girl. Now after reading it again it seems a lot more realistic."

"That's exactly what I thought of the original Romeo and Juliet when I first read it in high school" Mrs. Truscott said from behind, surprising them both. Lilly had been so surprised that she almost spilled her drink.

Mom!" Lilly said a little louder than normal. "You almost made me spill my Coke."

"I'm sorry honey. I didn't mean to startle you two." Mrs. Truscott said in pleasant tone. "So how is it going in here?"

Lilly replied saying "We're done for tonight but we'll be doing it again tomorrow night with another girl, named Jenny Park."

"That's nice. Well I'll probably be busy working for most of the evening tomorrow like I did tonight so if you need me I'll be in the office." She start heading to the kitchen then stopped and turned to add "I'm on my way to get a snack do you girls want one?"

"No thanks," Lilly said politely. "We had a snack not too long ago."

After Mrs Truscott went into the kitchen Miley said "Well I guess I better go now." She gathered up her copy of the script and her notes into a neat stack then began cleaning up the rest of her mess.

As Miley started cleaning up after herself Lilly said "Don't worry about that, I'll take care of it later." When she walked Miley to the door and said good night on the front porch she felt an urge to kiss her friend goodnight just as she had earlier that evening. She was sorely tempted to give in but, even after all that had been said during dinner, she resisted the urge and hugged her instead.

Miley had intended to resist the urge to kiss her best friend and just say goodnight but when Lilly hugged her all that changed. As she felt Lilly's warm body pressing against hers the urge changed into a wild fire of desire. Before she could change her mind Miley kissed Lilly and she was engulfed in a passionate embrace of the likes she had never before experienced with any of her boyfriends.

As soon as Miley's lips touched Lilly gave in to her desires and returned the kiss with just as much passion as she had during the audition. Without realizing it Lilly had snuggled closer as Miley wrapped her arms about her. Their kiss deepened and lasted an endless time as they both gave in to the feelings they ad for each other that their involvement in the play had brought to their attention. Lilly felt like she was being wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket of love while Miley was heating her from within by the intense passion from her kiss and she never wanted it to end.

Neither one of the girls knew how long the had been kissing when they finally stopped and Miley left to go home. They had been totally unaware that Lilly's mom had walked up on them then, once she noticed what they were doing, had quietly left them alone. Nor did they notice the figure in the shadows heading towards the front door from the street. The shadowy figure had stopped for a minute just outside the reach of the porch light then left.


End file.
